Reparation
by serrot
Summary: Determined to move on following Arizona's cheating with Lauren, Callie meets a brilliant physicist and Silicon Valley tycoon. Can he help Callie heal her broken heart or will her love for her wife prevail? Callie's jouney, post 9 x 24... M for language and later chapters. Note: Next update will be posted late July, upon return from holidays.
1. Broken

Callie said she wouldn't run. She promised she'd never leave.

Now, in the aftermath of Arizona's infidelity and venomous proposition to mutilate her body, she felt like her wife had pushed her out of a damn plane, and she was free falling without a parachute.

Struggling to breath, Callie's mind raced as she fled their angry confrontation for the nearest stair well.

_Had her wife really betrayed their marriage vows with a practical stranger? _

_How could Arizona hate her so much? _

_Had her wife's recovery, following months of anger and depression, been all an act? _

_Had Arizona remained in their marriage for Sofia, had she stayed for fear of being alone? _

_Was their renewed intimacy so awful, Arizona needed to screw the first hot woman who smiled at her post- recovery? _

Opening the door to the stairs while furiously wiping tears from her face, Callie tripped, falling hard to her knees on the landing.

Drawing deep breaths, she grabbed the railing and forced herself to stand-up.

Knowing the raging storm made even the short walk to her apartment dangerous, Callie resisted the urge to go up the stairs to collect Sofia and run.

Instead, she headed down, for the ER, where she knew the urgent need for her medical skills would keep her from crumbling, at least until it was safe to flee the hospital.

Some six hours later, exhausted and numb, Callie finally arrived at the day care for Sofia.

There, crying quietely on a make shift bed, was Arizona - her scrub clad body curled around their sleeping daughter, arms holding Sofia close to her chest.

Wordlessly, Callie grabbed their daughter's diaper bag, then gently sat on the cot's edge.

Seeing Callie's emotionless face, Arizona tightened her grip on Sofia and began to sob.

Ignoring her wife, Callie reached for their daughter, firmly lifting her from Arizona's arms.


	2. Survival Planning

Waking to Sofia's babbling on the monitor, Callie turned for the luxury of a few more minutes of sleep, wrapped round the warmth of her wife's lithe body.

Slowly, an oppressive weight descended on her happy psyche.

While she'd worried about her wife, Arizona had been busy having sex with her sparkly new colleague, not even missing her wedding ring.

Though Callie had never once blamed Arizona for the ugly scars that road mapped her body following the car accident, her wife steadfastly blamed her for the tragic consequences of the ill fated flight she chose to take in Karev's place.

Last night her family had been destroyed, she and Arizona damaged beyond repair.

With Sofia changed, and sippy cup in hand, Callie settled the two into the rocking chair, a gift Arizona had surprised her with shortly after they'd heard their baby's heart beat for the first time.

Peppering her sweet girl's face in kisses, Callie intuitively knew, despite the betrayal and Arizona's irrational anger, she'd never harm Sofia by keeping her mama from her.

Callie also realized no dark spiral into self pity, drinking binges and meaningless hook-ups could dull the pain of her aching heart.

Nor could she withstand the sting of salt in her raw wounds.

Sofia needed her to be strong and present, to ensure her days were filled with routine and happiness. Without question, Callie would provide Sof with a stable home and ensure she had at least one parent dedicated to putting their daughter's needs before their own.

Holding herself together for Sof would mean protecting her heart from Arizona and who ever she chose to let touch her body – lecherous docs, cute ortho nurses, tearful strangers in dirty bar bathrooms.

Sighing heavily, Callie placed Sofia in her play pen so she could make her daughter's favourite breakfast, pancakes with" anas" and "ips".

Once Sof was fed, she returned her to the safety of the play pen, with some of her favourite toys and books, and turned the TV on to the toddler programming PBS featured in the early afternoon.

Following a good cry in a hot shower and a strong pot of coffee, Callie focused on developing a strategy that would both protect her from Arizona's anger and reckless behaviour, while ensuring Sofia continued to have a close, loving relationship with her mama.

With deliberate speed and dispassion, Callie emailed Owen letting him know something urgent had come up and she needed a few days off.

She then texted her wife - Sofia and she would be moving to the Archfield for a week to allow Arizona the time and privacy to collect personal belongings and any household items she wanted in the near term from their apartment.

Finally, after packing a single bag for her and Sof, Callie wrote a short note to Arizona.

Callie wanted no direct contact and would engage their lawyer to work out a shared custody arrangement that would serve Sofia's best interests.

Now they'd no longer be a tag team where Sof was concerned, in addition to using the hospital's day care, Callie wanted to hire a nanny to facilitate Sofia going between her mothers and help care for their daughter when they had to work late or were on call.

With clarity of thought belying the few hours of sleep she'd had and the turmoil swirling in her head, Callie further proposed she do the initial search and interviews. Arizona could make the final decision from a short list of candidates she'd have their lawyer send her before month's end.

Finally, as tears fell again, Callie removed her wedding ring and necklace, depositing the sacred items inside the fold of her note.


	3. First Steps

After settling into her old suite at the Archfield, Callie called the lawyer who had done the work for Arizona to become Sofia's legal guardian, asking her to facilitate a shared custody arrangement for Sofia.

She then phoned several nanny agencies, explaining she and her ex-wife needed a part-time nanny but were willing to pay a full-time salary given the last minute requests the two surgeons would need the care provider to readily accommodate.

With these priorities addressed, Callie bundled Sofia into her stroller and, afterconsulting the hotel's concierge, headed for the nearest park with a play ground.

As she had since returning to the apartment, Callie ignored her vibrating phone, finally removing it from her coat pocket and stuffing it into the diaper bag at the bottom of the stroller.

Pushing Sofia on a swing, Callie thought of all the ways Arizona and she interacted at the hospital, professionally and personally.

As proud as she was of her role in saving the hospital, Callie couldn't remain on the board.

Arizona had made it clear Callie hadn't earned her seat like she and the others, and being in the same room as her wife, let alone thinking clearly about hospital policy and investments, would be impossible now.

She'd request her seat be assumed by Bailey. Miranda would provide wise and fair counsel, advocate from an employee perspective and help guide decisions as an implicit leader among the senior physicians.

Bailey would also appreciate the extra income for Tuck's college fund that came with board membership.

As Sof demanded to get out of her swing to join a group of toddlers in the sand box, Callie wistfully thought about her work with young patients and why she quietly loved these cases.

Kids mended quickly and knowing a properly set fracture, rebuilt ankle or well grafted knee ligament would return a child to the joy of the play ground or a favourite sport was one of the greatest rewards of being a rock star orthopedic surgeon.

Even so, the risk of getting pulled into surgeries with Arizona, or even of having to answer questions from her about peds' cases, was more than she could handle.

So, Callie would no longer treat kids in favour of more time for research.

Now that her cartilage work was being published in leading medical journals, and she was growing more comfortable speaking at the conferences she received a steady stream of invitations to, the profile and prestige accruing to Grey Sloan Memorial was significant.

As such, Callie knew the Board would acquiesce to her request to drop peds' cases for more time in her lab, even if Arizona protested the loss of the hospital's top ortho specialist to her department and the tiny humans.

Having moved on to repeatedly climbing up and down the slide, Sof was flagging and would soon be hungry for lunch.

With key professional decisions made, Callie fought back tears as she pushed the stroller back to the hotel and thought about the loss of the many personal rituals that had evolved between her and Arizona at work.

Most mornings they met at the coffee cart after rounds and often ate lunch together when their surgery schedules synched and they weren't needed in the pit.

Subtly linking hands in the elevator and quick kisses in the stairwell were as natural as signing off on charts and writing scripts.

Only last week, Arizona had improved her day a whole lot by leading her to an on-call room after a mind numbing board meeting.

On the best days, their shifts ended at the same time and they'd go get Sof together, arguing over whose turn it was for first raspberries and snuggles with their daughter.

All these simple pleasures that helped sustain Callie through her demanding days were gone.

From here on in, her residents would bring her coffee. She'd avoid the cafeteria and eat healthier, brown bagging it at her desk or in the lab.

Knowing Arizona's prosthetic made the stairs all but impossible for the busy again surgeon, Callie would avoid the elevator and exclusively use them.

To avoid Arizona, she'd give up the camaraderie of the locker room and change in her office.

In an emergency, she'd shower in the new gym for employees Jackson had successfully lobbied for.

Dropping by day care for a few unscheduled minutes with Sofia would only take the simple adjustment of checking the surgery board to ensure she'd not run into Arizona there.

In the days and weeks that followed, Callie successfully implemented every strategy and tactic in her "survival" plan, even as Arizona sought to apologize and fought for them to try and work things out.

There were tears and more than a few angry recriminations when Arizona showed up at Callie's office, lab and the apartment.

Flowers, donuts, pizza, tickets to concerts with some of Callie's favourite bands – even travel brochures and a bikini Callie loved Arizona in - were left in her in-basket.

Voice mail, texts and emails informed Callie Arizona was now seeing a therapist for PTSD and had joined a support group for amputees.

Others messages sought to assure Callie she was the great and singular love of Arizona's life.

Perhaps because they were damaged too, and Callie had not tried to take Sofia away from Arizona, their mutual friends respected her decision to cut her wife out of her life after she cheated on her, and offered their love and support in ways Callie needed and that fit with her new life as single mom.

Though they'd never been friends, Callie found herself saying yes to Meredith's invitations to stay for coffee when she dropped Sof off for play dates with Zola.

Derick and she had developed their own routine of taking the girls and littel Bailey to the aquarium the first Saturday of the month.

Miranda and her had a stat monthly dinner date, ostensibly, so Bailey could keep her updated on board activities.

Truly, so they could enjoy the friendship they'd forged from being their for each other through their respective second weddings and other life crisis.

Christina and Callie had at first fallen into their old pattern of dulling their sorrows together over tequilla at Joe's but eventually found their aching and aging hearts needed more.

When Callie suggested Christina join her and Sof at the park one Sunday morning, Christina surprised her by showing up, with coffee and pastries no less.

Now, the two of them went for long walks most Sundays, and only half joked about trading their jeans and walking shoes for runners and yoga pants.

Addison was also a constant presence during the first painful weeks and months of Callie's new life sans Arizona.

Addie had jumped on a plane after Arizona herself had called to let her know Callie and she had separated.

Ads had returned for Thanksgiving and made Callie visit her in LA after Christmas, when Arizona had taken Sofia to see her grandparents.

And so it was, almost a year to the day her heart shattered and she lost Arizona, Callie had a new equilibrium and smiled brightly when a stranger tapped her on the shoulder to hand Sofia the stuffed unicorn she'd dropped in the hospital's entrance, as mother and daughter rushed to start a new day at Grey Sloan Memorial.


	4. Speechless

Shyly reaching out to accept Aurora from the stranger, Sofia managed a soft, "tank you", as she'd been taught by her mothers to say when someone gave her something.

_The rainbow coloured unicorn was Sof's favourite among the menagerie of plush toys she'd received since birth. _

_Arizona had purchased the unicorn after Callie complained that, besides the rocking chair, everything her wife bought for their daughter had a Disney theme._

_A Chicken Little stuffie was followed by a Minnie Mouse dress. Then came Aladdin slippers, a Donald Duck poster and Little Mermaid plates and bowls._

_Secretly, Callie's loved the music box Arizona had picked up in the gift shop at Seattle's Children's Museum._

_It played Pocahontas' Colours of the Wind, a beautiful song about the wonders of the earth and nature, including the spirit within all living things._

_Christina had stamped her own twisty edge on the traditional plush toy gift, giving her god daughter a collection of Angry Bird characters in red, blue, black white and yellow._

_Callie herself leaned toward educational themed toys but adored the Oscar the Grouch she'd purchased for Sof after the storm because of his penchant for pessimism and Slimey, the worm who was the smallest and smartest character on Sesame Street._

After responding to Sofia, "You're welcome ma cheire," the man popped up from eye level with the little girl, to stand several inches taller than her mother.

Given the wealth Callie had grown up with, she knew his casual sports jacket was expensive and appreciated he'd paired it with an open collar dress shirt and pants.

Polished brown loafers that matched the colour of his belt, a gold Cartier watch and dark purple pocket hankie communicated confidence and understated professionalism.

Smiling warmly, Mr. GQ winked at Callie then headed for the elevators, a group of trendily dressed hipsters following him.

Before Callie could recall why Aurora's charming rescuer looked vaguely familiar, Sofia impatiently tugged her arm.

Sticking to her "no Arizona citings" maxim had required Callie to master carrying her daughter, one small Dora the Explorer knapsack and her own heavy brief case up 93 stairs.

The stronger biceps and improved aerobic capacity, added bonuses to not being confined in an elevator with Arizona who once unravelled Callie in the blink of riding from the peds' floor to the lobby the first time they'd broken up.

After dropping Sofia off at day care, Callie headed to her office for the tablet she'd need to access and update patient records during rounds.

Walking as she scrolled through her messages, she ran into a group of interns gathered outside her office, dropping her weighted brief case on her foot.

As Callie winced in pain, Heather's hand shot out, holding her coffee of choice - a low fat, two shot, extra hot, cappuccino with foam.

Motioning the bearer of caffeine into her office, Callie closed the door on the rest.

"What the hell, it's not even eight a.m. and already you guys are annoying me," Callie complained.

"What gives?"

Proudly pulling her new Blackberry Z10 out of her pocket, Heather thrust the phone into Callie's face.

Staring at her was a high res photo of the handsome man who minutes ago had returned Aurora to Sof.

"My daughter's happiness aside, is this suppose to mean something to me," Callie impatiently asked.

"That's Jean Desmarais, the brilliant theoretical physicist and social media tycoon who's reportedly worth $12 billion," Heather exclaimed.

"He's topped Silicon Valley's list of most eligible bachelors like forever, and accompanied Zoe Saldana on the red carpet at the CFDA Fashion Awards last week!"

"Well I hope a family member's a patient here and he makes a big donation to the hospital," Callie said, grabbing the tablet and her lab coat for rounds.

"No, he's here doing research for some big new life sciences prize he's established," Heather corrected her superior.

_(This year's crop of interns might be especially frustrating, but they deserve credit for knowing intelligence like this which clearly escaped the consultants the hospital paid to chase research funding for them thought Callie.)_

"Given the success of your TED Talk, the other interns and I figured Desmarais' here to see your cartilage work," Heather beamed at her.

"Yeah, when pigs fly," Callie responded, rolling her eyes.

"Now, thanks for the coffee and let's roll, we've got a heavy patient load and we're already running late."

Rushing out her office, Callie barely missed her second body physical mishap of the morning; this time with Owen, walking like a man possessed at her.

"Damn, I'm going to be treating myself before this day's over," Callie internally fumed, hiding her frustration from Owen out of respect for his position as Chief and their friendship.

"Callie, do you have a minute please?"

"Can it wait until after rounds," she plaintively responded.

"No, something's come up that's urgent. I've asked Dr. Chang to lead rounds and pushed back your surgeries til this afternoon."

"Is Sof OK, she had a bit of a fever on the week-end but seemed back to herself yesterday," Callie questioned worriedly.

"Sofia's fine," Owen assured her.

"This is work related."

Noticing Heather weirdly bouncing up and down behind Callie, the Chief instructed her to join Chang for rounds, while shepherding Callie back into her office.

"You know how our email got screwed up last month while we transferred to the new system," Owen began.

"Apparently all my messages from unknown senders went into junk email where they were never properly vetted by the temporary assistant who replaced my regular EA while she was on training."

Looking pained, Owen pushed on,

"Fifteen minutes ago, I arrived at my office to find Jean Desmarais and a team of his people waiting to start a tour of your research lab."

After all the weird and tragic traumas Callie had witnessed in the hospital, including her own highly personal traumatization of finding the wedding ring she'd placed on her wife's finger pinned to Lauren Fucking Boswell's scrub top, Callie had thought nothing at work could shock her any more.

Now she was reconsidering the assumption.

"Owen, I think I need to sit down."

"I actually met Desmarais very briefly in the hospital lobby this morning and Heather just showed me his Time Magazine "Person of the Year" photo.

"Why's he interested in my research, Heather said he's a physicist whose focus is social media?"

"He and some other high tech industry honchos have established a new award dedicated to advancing breakthrough medical research that has the potential to benefit millions of people, work like yours Callie," Owen replied.

"Someone nominated you for their new prize and they emailed last month confirming they'd visit today to see your lab and learn more about the success you've had creating artificial cartilage."

"I'm sorry about the lack of notice Callie but rumour has it there are three prizes worth ten million dollars each."

"If you win, your research will advance to human trials and be commercialized much quicker than the slow pace you're forced to go now with the limited funding you have."

(Left unspoken was that an award of this magnitude would propel Grey Sloan Memorial to among the top ten research hospitals in the country.)

Knowing she was about to be panic, Callie forced herself to focus on how supportive the board had been of her request to decrease her clinical time in favour of research.

They'd also allowed Bailey to take her seat on the board, even though it met paying Miranda the six figure director's fee Callie had waived as an owner of the hospital who would potentially realize substantial dividends, once the hospital was revitalized and profitable.

"Owen, if you can hold them off for 30 more minutes so I can brief the lab assistants and update my presentation slides with the latest results from our ongoing trials with mice, I'll hit the ball out of the park," promised Callie, eyes now sparkling with excitement.

And one more thing, I'm going to need Heather to bring me another one of these to the lab, she said holding out her empty Tully's coffee cup.

Just as Callie tapped "save" on her lap top, the door to the lab opened and in walked Owen, Jean Desmarais, and his posse of trendy underlings in their uniform of skinny jeans, hoodies, sneakers and vintage style glasses with contemporary twists.

To Callie's consternation, behind them, trailed Jackson Avery, the hospital's V.P. of Communications and a freakin photographer.

Suppressing her distain for the presumptuous p.r offensive, Callie smiled brightly at Jean Desmarais for the second time that morning.

Extending her hand to the guest of honour, Callie reached back for her high school French and said, "C'est un honneur de vous avoir ici, je vous remercie de votre visite aujourd'hui." (It's a honour to have you here, thank you for visiting us today.)

Nodding for the lights to be dimmed, and her PowerPoint presentation to start, Callie began a narrative of the magical journey wherein she created cartilage from scratch, speaking with passion and eloquence to the assembled group for more than an hour.

After listening carefully to Callie's presentation, and asking a lot of well informed and detailed questions, the visitors indicated they were ready to wrap the session up.

"I believe it's possible that with sufficient funding, your invention of artificial cartilage could restore full mobility to hundreds of thousands of people in western counties, and slow the degradation of quality of life that comes with aging for many, many more," remarked the most inquisitive member of Desmarias' group, a woman with dreds and a nose piercing who looked all of 25.

"No promises Dr. Torres, but I think I speak for all of us when I say how impressed we are with your innovative work and that it's exactly the kind of research we're hoping to advance with this new award," said a slightly older woman with red hair and Iris Apfel like glasses.

"Do you have any questions for us before we leave," enquired the youngster in the entourage who had furiously typed on his own tablet the entire time Callie spoke and answered questions.

"I'm curious how you came to consider my research for such a prestigious prize," Callie enquired.

" I know my TED talk got some views on YouTube, but beyond that, only physician scientists in the field of orthopedics and a small number of researchers in the pharmaceutical industry are very familiar with it," she added.

"You underestimate your reputation Dr. Torres," the young man in the black Vans hoodie responded.

"Your research profiled in the highest quadrant of a preliminary study we commissioned to determine possible projects we should consider reviewing more closely."

"Then, when we received a formal application three months ago and saw it was endorsed by several of your peers at Harvard, Hopkins, Columbia and Stanford, the decision to advance your application to a smaller pool of informal candidates for further review was an easy one," skater boy continued.

"However, your application almost did miss the final cut because it was submitted on your behalf by a third party, a pediatric surgeon, and not yourself.

"This initially concerned us but after reading what was frankly the best written and most detailed application we received, and seeing the drafter herself was a recipient of the Carter-Madison Grant, we decided to proceed to the next step and consult other distinguished researchers in your field who were not among the official endorsers named in your application."

"After receiving their unanimous glowing comments about your work as both a surgeon and medical scientist, we felt you and your research belonged in the final elite group we're now officially considering for the award."

For the second time that morning, Callie's "nothing can faze me" mantra was proven wrong and she had to sit down, stunned and speechless.

Some six months ago, Arizona had stopped trying to see her and otherwise communicate.

Soon after, Karev had asked to work in her lab, proposing to focus on developing a version of the formula that would produce cartilage suitable for use in young children who suffered from diseases like juvenile rheumatoid and idiopathic arthritis.

Given Arizona's medical brilliance, expertise in applying for research grants and detailed knowledge of Callie's research, all she would have needed to produce an impressive application, replete with the latest confidential advancements in Callie's research, was Karev spying for her in the lab.

Before Callie could burst into tears - of anger or gratitude over what Arizona had done she wasn't sure - Jean Desmarais, silent all morning, stepped forward.

"One more thing Dr. Torres, there's a small but significant condition you'll have to agree to fulfill, should the Selection Committee decide to award you one of the inaugural prizes."

"As you see, none of us at Desmarias Industries are medical researchers. Our plan is to correct this weakness by having this year's prize winners serve on the next year's Selection Committee.

"Most of the meetings can be handled by video conferencing, however, there will be some travel required with myself and the other committee members to visit research sites and speak directly with renowned medical scientists, as we have you today."

"Estaria abierto a esta propuesta" (do you agree to this proposal), concluded Desmarais, with a penetrating gaze that unnerved and captivated Callie as only Arizona had ever done, when she kissed her in a dirty bar bathroom.


	5. Ice Cream

5: Ice Cream

Callie laid on her back staring at the ceiling.

It was twelve months, three weeks, and four days since her family imploded.

One hundred and eighty-two days, hundreds of bedtime stories and a thousand sweet kisses had been lost with Sofia, as her daughter now lived on an equal, part-time basis, with her two mothers.

Two failed marriages, one deceased best friend, and no sex life summed up her disastrous personal life.

Sighing, Callie forced herself out of bed, even though it was only 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning, and Arizona had Sofia until the following afternoon.

Callie hated her week-ends without Sof and still viscerally missed Arizona, her heart contracting and stomach churning when she saw her in the distance at work.

Having redirected her wife's newspaper subscription to her new address, Callie now read the _New York Times_ online.

As she ate breakfast and scrolled through the paper on her iPad, she smiled at the headline, "_Delaware, Next State to Legalize Gay Marriage?_"

Even if her own big lesbian wedding had failed miserably, she was thrilled by the growing momentum to legalize gay marriage in the U.S., and wished those tying the knot better luck than she'd had.

Squinting to read the story through the glare on her screen, Callie averted her eyes to the window behind her to see the sun shining for the first time all week.

Wanting to enjoy the nice weather even if she was alone, Callie decided she'd go to the cemetery before running errands and picking up the groceries Sof and her would need for their coming week together.

Answering last minute questions from the Selection Committee for the "_Wealth for Health_" award, as Callie had nicknamed the officious "_Desmarais Award for Groundbreaking Medical Research_", could wait till tomorrow.

In the immediate weeks after Arizona and she had separated, Callie had visited Mark's grave often.

But going there just made her feel even more miserable and alone.

Telling an ethereal Mark about the funny things Sofia had said or done that week reinforced how much they'd all lost and compounded her pain.

Visiting the cemetery made her miss Mark's bear hugs and memorable exhortations to "push through" and "walk tall Torres" even more.

So Callie had stopped going, opting to remember Mark by productively making a scrap book and memories box for Sofia.

Now though, she hadn't been there in months and today was sunny and warm.

She'd pick-up the same flowers Mark had delivered to her hospital room every week following the car accident - yellow roses for friendship.

Callie smiled, remembering her best friend's advice when she'd asked him about what kind of flowers she should send Erica.

"Pink roses," he exclaimed, explaining with a grin, "romance without commitment Torres".

She knew Lexie was different than all the other women Mark had dated when he sent her red roses after their first date.

As Callie walked toward Mark's plot, she froze; Arizona and Sofia were there.

Before Callie could retreat, Sof who was twirling dropped the flower in her hand and ran toward her.

Placing the roses on the ground so she could swing her daughter high into the air, Callie warily kept an eye on Arizona who was looking everywhere but at her.

Setting Sof down, she picked up the flowers and with a calming breath, took her daughter's hand to walk toward Mark's grave and Arizona.

"Hi," managed Callie

"Hey there," said Arizona with a soft smile.

"What are doing here," Callie asked.

"Sof was babbling about Mark last night and again this morning."

"I figured bringing her to the cemetery would help her understand where her Daddy is now."

"I would have asked you first, but you know, we only talk through our lawyer, and it was a nice day and l'm her mom, and I'm allowed to make these kinds of decisions for her," Arizona rambled.

Cutting her off, Callie said, "It's ok, thanks for bringing her, Mark would like it."

"Yeah well, we've been here awhile so we'll head off and give you some time with him alone," Arizona responded, noticing, now that she was standing close to her wife for the first time in more than a year, how physically fit Callie looked.

Once Arizona and Sof were out of sight, Callie walked to the foot of Mark's grave and kneeled to set the flowers she'd brought against the dark granite headstone.

Weighted under a small rock at its base was a heart made out of pink construction paper.

Clearly, Arizona had made it for Sofia to place there.

_Daddy: _

_Out of our lives you may have gone, but in our hearts you still live on. _

_Love, Sofia, Mamie and Mama_

Picking the heart up and holding it to her chest Callie doubled over and let out an agonizing sob.

First she cried for Mark, then she cried for Lexie, then her daughter and finally, for Arizona and herself.

Arriving back at the parking lot, Callie was surprised to see Arizona and Sof there, seated on a bench under a blossoming apple tree, plastic containers and juice boxes surrounding them.

Resisting the desire to take a picture of the cute mother – daughter picnic with her phone, Callie headed to her car.

Seeing her, Arizona pulled a book out of the _Dora the Explorer_ knapsack that went back and forth between her moms with Sof.

Quickly promising Sofia ice cream if she sat and looked at the pretty pictures while her mommies talked, Arizona jumped up from the bench with a fluidity that surprised her.

As Callie walked faster to her car, Arizona, aided by the new prosthetic leg she'd recently got for running, moved faster, arriving first at the prized Thunderbird.

Noticing Callie's tear stained face, Arizona offered her the Kleenex package she kept in her pocket at all times when she had Sof.

Mumbling thanks, Callie fished for the key ring in her purse.

"Callie, I know you don't want to see me, and I know I don't have the right to ask anything of you but for Sofia, do you think we could try doing the Sunday trade-off in person tomorrow, at the _Molly Moon_ ice cream shop near my place?"

Before Callie could answer, Arizona barrelled on.

"Because Sof deserves two parents who can at least be in the same room together."

"Two moms who can both show up for her dance recitals, soccer games and band concerts without it being awkward between them and stressing their kid out."

"She needs two moms who jointly go to her parent-teacher interviews so she's not the kid with the parents who are twice the work for her teachers because they can't be in the same freakin room together."

"And heaven forbid she ever needs stitches, or breaks an arm, or gets a concussion, but if she does, we should be able to both be there for her."

"And boys, or girls, and drinking, and drugs and college applications, Sofia needs us to guide and reprimand and support her through her teen years as a team."

"And I know some of that's a long way off, but we're a long way from being able to do any of it together so if we start now, with simple drop-offs and pickups, maybe when she's ten and getting her soccer team's MVP award, Sof can have both of her parents there to celebrate her success with her."

"Please Callie, I'm not asking for shared Sunday dinners, or family holidays or to live together again, I'm just asking for an ice cream!"

Whatever else Arizona had lost because of the plane crash, clearly, her ability to deliver an impromptu speech remained intact.

Amused and happy to see something of the old Arizona, Callie was tempted to tease her and say, "I'll check my schedule and get back to you".

But because nothing between them was playful, fun or light anymore, she simply said, "For Sofia we can try it".


	6. Molly Moon's

Ice cream. She could do ice cream. She loved ice cream.

And Molly Moon's was a happening spot.

Between securing a table, lining up to place their order and trying to ensure Sof didn't dump her ice cream over her head as she'd recently done with a bowl of spaghetti, Callie and Arizona would be busy and could avoid any unpleasantness between them.

Callie had long understood manifesting her emotions unfiltered got her into trouble.

Her penchant for living in the moment and celebrating joy, or reacting angrily, had created problems in her personal and professional lives.

There was the time Arizona had threatened to hit her protégé with a brick after learning Karev had slept with her wife following a memorable case they'd worked on together.

An angry outburst had jeopardized her chance to ever work for Chief Weber again, and yelling at idiot parents of some of her patients had led to complaints about her lack of professionalism.

In the past year, Callie had worked to better understand and control her emotional impulsiveness, with the help of a therapist she'd engaged to help deal with her anger over Arizona's betrayal and her grief about losing her wife.

Even though Callie found the process worthwhile and hoped she was now more self aware and in control of her emotions, she feared Arizona, Sof and her doing something fun together might trigger a meltdown of tears, anger or both.

However, Callie also knew Arizona was right - they needed to try and reach a congenial new normal for Sofia's sake.

Maybe ice cream could be the start of that process.

Meeting Arizona to pick-up Sofia might also help Callie address something that had been weighing on her mind since the surprise visit from the Selection Committee for the new Jean Desmarais medical research awards – how to thank her wife for nominating her for the prestigous prize.

Once Callie had absorbed the magnitude of what Arizona had done, her initial feelings of anger had faded until only gratitude remained.

Then she felt the need to express her appreciation for Arizona's herculean, if clandestine, initiative on her behalf.

Writing, redrafting and editing the award's application, covertly gathering the supporting documentation, and securing endorsements for the nomination of her research project from some of the most eminent physician researchers in the country would have required hundreds of hours of work on Arizona's part.

Doubtless, a few favours had been called in among her ex wife's network of peds colleagues at Harvard, Hopkins, Columbia and Stanford, asking them to in turn request their ortho colleagues returned the unknown surgeon's phone calls and emails.

Arizona had always encouraged Callie's research but what she'd done, especially given they were estranged and her ex wife could have spent her precious discretionary time supporting the children's hospital in Malawi she'd established and remained passionate about, was kind and generous and enthusiastic - all the things that had cemented Callie's interest in her future wife, once she'd gotten beyond being mezmorized by her obvious physical attributes.

So Callie would suck it up and eat chocolate peanut butter ice cream for Sof, and so she could say thank you to her ex for continuing to believe and support her cartilage research.

Arriving at Molly Moon's, Callie saw Arizona had secured a table for them.

Her blond hair was pulled into a pony tail and she was wearing a Seattle Mariner's baseball jacket.

Last week, the hospital's newsletter had featured a photo of its Chief of Pediatrics with the Mariner's star pitcher and his son.

Arizona has performed a tonsillectomy on the boy, a simple procedure typically handled by a junior surgeon.

Callie surmised the leather sleeved jacket was a gift from the VIP patient's grateful father.

As she watched Arizona settle Sofia into a high chair, Callie couldn't help notice how great Arizona's ass looked in the tight fitting jeans she was wearing.

Walking up to the table, she bent to kiss her daughter and complimented her on the large pink bow in her hair, inwardly cringing at the hideous ribbon Arizona had fastened on top their daughter's head.

Standing up, she tentatively smiled at her ex wife who beamed back at her, suggesting she'd get the ice cream so Callie could stay and enjoy Sofia.

Returning with a small bowl of vanilla for Sof, a waffle cone for Callie and a strawberry shake with whip cream for herself, Arizona distributed the treats and napkins, then sat down on the other side of Sofia's high chair.

Nervous, both Callie and Arizona were grateful for the small degree of seperation their daughter provided between them.

They'd not been this close since the night of the storm when Arizona had fearfully turned to Callie and tried to fake it, even though she knew with gut churning certainty Lauren's smooth explaination of a pyloric stenosis baby being responsible for the wedding ring pinned to her scrub top like an "I fucked your wife medal", wouldn't fool Callie for a second.

As they took turns helping Sof with her ice cream and focusing on their own, Arizona relayed the highlights of the past week with their daughter.

The words Sof had mastered, her new favourite book, _Chicka Chicka Boom Boom_, her insistence on wearing mismatched socks to day care, her taking a selfie with Arizona's phone, how the brilliant three year old had successfully counted to twenty.

In spite of her uneasiness, Callie found herself relaxing and enjoying Arizona's rambling update.

It was reassuring to be reminded she wasn't the only crazy person in Sof's life.

That Arizona noticed and delighted in the same mundane and trivial things Sofia did as she.

That her ex also thought their daughter was the smartest toddler in all of Seattle, if not the entire country.

With their ice cream almost done, Callie decided to bite the bullet and raise the subject of the Desmarais awards and what Arizona had done.

"Arizona, before Sof and I take off, I wanted to thank you for nominating me for that research prize," began Callie.

"At first, I didn't think I had a chance of actually winning the thing, but now there's all this back and forth with the Selection Committee, asking for more details about how I'd allocate the money, how long it I think it will take to get through human trials, and where I see the first commercial application being."

"Callie that's great," exclaimed Arizona.

"Your cartilage research has the potential to be as important a break through as the x-ray was in reducing exploratory surgeries and diagnosing and treating diseases."

"It could rival the discovery of anesthetics in allowing more complex and intricate surgical procedures, while preventing pain and lowering the chance of complications."

Arizona, not wanting to talk about what and how and why she had done what she'd done, was on a roll.

Before, she could move on to germ theory, penicillin, and vaccinations, Callie reached out and grabbed her hand, shocking Arizona into silence.

"Arizona, I don't think I'm the next Alexander Fleming, Wilhelm Roentgen or Lady Mary Wortley Montague," interjected Callie.

"Whatever happens, with or without the Desmarais award money, I'm grateful for your faith in my research and that you went to so much trouble to support it."

Trying not to let her welling tears fall, Arizona looked at her wife and said, "Callie, you have to know I'd do anything for you."

"I'd do anything to take back what happened, anything to have never hurt you so badly and anything for us to still be together."

"As clearly none of that's possible, supporting your miraculous research and helping you improve the lives of millions is the least I can do."

"And Callie, I didn't just do it for you. Working on that application helped me get through some pretty dark days after you cut me off."

"It helped me stay connected to you in some small way, beyond the love we share for Sofia."

Callie needed to run.

Run before she broke down and caused a scene, run before she told Arizona she forgave her, run before she gathered Arizona in her arms and asked her to go home with her and Sofia.

Wiping away the tears that had started to trickle down her face, Callie looked mournfully into the clear blue eyes she'd long lost herself to and said, "Sof and I need to get going."

Once Callie had Sofia bathed and in bed, she opened her computer to answer the latest questions from the award's committee.

Scrolling through her new messages, Callie was surprised to see one from Jean Desmarais himself.

Was Callie free to join him in San Francisco this coming Friday?


End file.
